One of the main issue’s with the backstop was that the EU originally wanted it to only apply to Northern Ireland, which would mean it staying as part of the EU customs union and being part of the single market.

The UK’s concern was that this would create a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK as good would need to be checked before they crossed over because of a difference in trading standards.

An agreement was eventually reached that determined that Northern Ireland would stay aligned to certain rules of the EU single market if another solution isn’t found by the end of the transition period which is currently set for December 2020.

It was agreed between both the UK and EU as part of Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the aim of keeping the cross-border cooperation and protecting the Good Friday peace agreement, which has been a key talking point.

Theresa May has had difficult convincing MPs to accept the backstop (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Guidance published by the European Commission says: ‘There would be a need for some compliance checks with EU standards, consistent with risk, to protect consumers, economic traders and businesses in the single market.

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‘The EU and the UK have agreed to carry out these checks in the least intrusive way possible.’

The extent to which the EU would influence Northern Ireland was criticised by Jeremy Corbyn when the details were revealed.

The Labour party leader said: ‘The list of EU measures that continue to apply to the UK in respect of Northern Ireland runs to 68 pages of the agreement, this affects VAT declarations and rules of origin checks.’

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Despite all this, the backstop remains a last resort as negotiations would continue until the Brexit deadline in March 2019, and then until the end of the transitional period in December 2020.

They could even go beyond then as the transitional period could still be extended.

In the Commons after announcing her proposed deal, Mrs May said: ‘It took considerable time to convince the EU to move from its position for a Northern Ireland-only customs territory to a UK wide customs territory but we have achieved that.’

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has tabled a vote of confidence (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

What is the problem with the backstop?

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The issue is that if the backstop went ahead then Northern Ireland would need to have any incoming goods checked to see if they meet EU standards.

If the backstop remains in place then it would mean that the whole of the UK would essentially still be influenced by the EU.

Many people are concerned that the lack of a time-limit for the backstop could mean that the UK will remain as part of the EU indefinitely.

This is because the backstop wouldn’t end until both the UK and EU agree that is it no longer required.

The government is now required to provide an alternative plan after Theresa May’s deal was rejected on Tuesday night, but it remains to be seen whether any future proposed deal will include a backstop.